[Ip-health] VS: [e-drug] Abbott denies the world their medicine

[Kirsten Myhr]

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VS: [e-drug] Abbott denies the world their medicineCopied from E-drug. Woul=
d
anyone comment on whether this issue should be tried in court? Or other
forms of action? Small countries like Norway is suffering (of course not on
the scale poor countries suffer) because BigPharma more and more often
withdraws or not even registers pediatric formulation and other small volum=
e
medicines.

Kirsten

E-DRUG: Abbott denies the world their medicine
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Our pharmacy has a couple of patients who use Depakote (divalproex sodium)
sprinkle capsules from Abbott USA.
[Divalproex is used for epilepsy and some psychiatric conditions-
Moderator].

Depakote is no longer available in Norway.

Any wholesaler who wants to trade Abbott's medicines in USA has to sign a
document where they promise not to sell these medicines outside USA. And
when Abbott Norway denies to import them to Norway, the inversed embargo is
complete.

 We did manage to obtain a generic substitute. But this attitude from Abbot=
t
is problematic. Norway has about 5 mill inhabitants. Like in very, very man=
y
other countries this is not a large enough population to make an ordinary
profitable market for many medicines. We are dependent on unregistered
medicines, preferably imported from countries with a decent regulatory
system.

 USA is the world's largest medicine market. Abbott is denying the rest of
the world access to their medicine. That is wrong doing.

 Stein Lyftingsmo
Hospital Pharmacy of Elverum, Norway
www.lyftingsmo.no



 Ms Kirsten Myhr, MScPharm, MPH
Head
RELIS Drug Info and Pharmacovigilance Centre
Oslo University Hospital HF, Ullev=E5l
N-0407 OSLO, Norway
Tel: +47 23 01 64 11
Fax: +47 23 01 64 10
kirsten.myhr[at]relis.ulleval.no
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